All most every month there is a 2m contest called the cumulative contest (full title 144MHz UKAC contest) and is held in the evening for a few hours. On Tuesday the 4th of September I decided to work the contest from a site near Stapleford in Essex.
On arrival, I connected up my FT-817 and proceeded to work the contest. The installation is a 100Ah battery / 2KvA generator, and a 9 element tonna that can be adjusted from 15 to 30ft.
I checked the ON and PA beacons, which we normally hear at about 5 & 3, these were 5/7 so conditions were good. 14 stations were worked in 40 minutes, ON, PA, DL, F, GD, GW and of course G.
George, M1GEO and David G7UVW arrived and we swapped the rig for an Icom 7000 and a 100w linear. This enabled us to work further afield and of course we could now compete with the other portable stations. George worked into SK7 (Sweden) and a good number of stations on the continent.
All in all a good evenings operating was accomplished.
Why more amateurs don’t get on 2m SSB is strange, it’s the only way to work the DX. It’s real radio not 2m FM(CB), D-Star etc.
73
John G0VEH (email: g0veh@lefars.org.uk)
Further info
144MHz UKAC contest details here
RSGB contest calendar (overview) here
